Men’s 2014 Preseason Watch List for The Bowerman Announced

NEW ORLEANS – With the men’s The Bowerman Trophy for 2013 having been awarded to Indiana’s Derek Drouin less than a month ago, the time has come to look forward to the 2014 collegiate track & field season with the unveiling of Wednesday’s Men’s Preseason Watch List.

While Drouin has exhausted his collegiate eligibility, two of his fellow 2013 finalists for collegiate track & field’s equivalent to college football’s Heisman Trophy — Arizona’s Lawi Lalang and Julian Wruck of UCLA — headline the first edition of the 2014 Men’s Watch List. The Women’s Preseason Watch List will be announced Thursday.

Semifinalists from 2013 who start out 2014 on the Watch List include Texas’ Sam Crouser and Johannes Hock; Texas A&M’s Wayne Davis II; Florida’s Marquis Dendy; and Mississippi’s Sam Kendricks. Though Davis and Kendricks were both semifinalists last season, they are each making their first Watch List appearance.

Texas A&M and Florida join Texas as schools with two representatives on the list as the Aggies’ Deon Lendore and the Gators’ Arman Hall — both of whom specialize at 400 meters — also made the list. Oregon’s Mike Berry also received votes, foreshadowing the potential of a very competitive quarter-mile competition this year.

Sticking with the Texas theme, UTEP’s Anthony Rotich makes his first career appearance to round out the Watch List, giving the state of Texas five members of the preseason list. He is the first man from UTEP to appear on the list.

The Watch List is determined by the Men’s Watch List Committee, which is made up of four individuals. Each of the four submit a rank-ordered top 10 list (vote totals will not be disclosed) and the 10 student-athletes who garner the most vote-points are included on the Watch List. Student-athletes who received votes but did not make the top 10 are also listed.

Lalang and Wruck will both look to join the lone all-time repeat men’s finalist, Ashton Eaton of Oregon, who ultimately claimed The Bowerman Trophy in his second year as a finalist in 2010.

Certainly no stranger to the Watch List, Lalang is on the preseason for the second consecutive season and is the active leader in total men’s Watch List appearances with 17, trailing only Florida’s Jeff Demps (19) all-time. Wruck makes his fifth appearance.

With Dendy and first-timer Hall on the list, Florida bolsters its The Bowerman legacy, which includes an all-time best 59 total Watch List appearances between an all-time best eight individuals. By way of Lalang, Arizona is next on the list with 17 total appearances.

Total program appearances is equivalent to the sum of all of its student-athletes individual appearances.

Texas now has 12 total Watch List appearances, tied for seventh-most in men’s history with Florida State. In-state rival Texas A&M has now had six different student-athletes — second only to Florida’s eight — appear nine total times.

By conference, the SEC boasts five of the ten Watch Listers to boost its total to 107 all-time appearances. The Pac-12 is next with 72 with the inclusion of Wruck and Lalang, and the Big 12 is boosted by Crouser and Hock to 53. Conference USA has now appeared four total times.

Last season, both eventual winner Drouin and Lalang appeared on the Preseason Watch List, but only one other semifinalist, Kansas State’s Erik Kynard, ultimately became a semifinalist at season’s end.

The first regular-season edition of the Men’s Watch List for The Bowerman will be released Wednesday, February 5.

Preseason Men’s Watch List Biographies

Junior
Throws

Boring, Ore.
Barlow HS

Ryan Crouser, Texas

The Bowerman Notes: Crouser was named a semifinalist in 2013, and he appeared on two additional Watch Lists during the 2012-13 season. Along with fellow Longhorn Watch Lister Johannes Hock, Texas has now been represented on the Men’s Watch List 12 times, tied with Florida State for seventh among men’s programs all-time.

Last Season: Crouser claimed the shot put title at the 2013 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships, defeating 2012 champion Jordan Clarke of Arizona State with his lone legal mark of 66-7¾ (20.31m). A few weeks prior, he set the Texas school record in the shot put at the Big 12 Championships with a heave of 69-2½ (21.09m), which stood as the farthest collegiate throw of the 2012-13 season by nearly two feet.

Not only did he perform at a national level in the shot put, but also in the discus, an event in which he finished eighth at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and fourth at the Big 12 Championships. His throw of 194-6 (59.28m) was the 14th-best among collegians in 2013.

He redshirted the 2012-13 indoor season.

Senior
Hurdles

Raleigh, N.C.
Southeast HS

Wayne Davis II, Texas A&M

The Bowerman Notes: Davis was a semifinalist for the 2013 The Bowerman after a successful NCAA Outdoor Championships performance, but this is his first appearance on the Watch List. Along with teammate and fellow Watch Lister Deon Lendore, Texas A&M now accounts for nine total Men’s Watch List appearances between six student-athletes, tied with Indiana, Northern Arizona, Texas Tech and BYU for 12th all-time. The Aggies’ six all-time Watch List members is the second-highest total behind Florida’s eight.

This Season: Davis won his 2013-14 debut in the 60 meter hurdles at the Reveille Invitational in 7.85 — a mark that betters each of his first six races from the 2012-13 season until he ran 7.78 in the prelims at the SEC Championships — and set a personal record in the open 60 meters in 6.88.

Last Season: He won the 110 meter hurdles at the 2013 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships in a wind-aided 13.14 (+3.8m/s) to claim the first individual national title of his career. His finals mark was the third-fastest all-conditions time ever run during the collegiate season. In total, he recorded three of the four fastest all-conditions times during the 2013 collegiate season.

His outdoor resume also included an SEC crown and a Penn Relays title in the 110 hurdles among his four wins in five finals. Indoors, he finished runner-up in the 60 meter hurdles at the 2013 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships in a career-best 7.59, and was second at the SEC Championships in the hurdles.

Internationally, he represented Trinidad and Tobago at the 2013 IAAF World Championships in Moscow, where he advanced to the semifinals in the 110 meter hurdles.

Junior
Horizontal Jumps

Middletown, Del.
Middletown HS

Marquis Dendy, Florida

The Bowerman Notes: Dendy makes his sixth appearance on the Watch List after being included five times in 2013. He and fellow Florida Watch Lister Arman Hall bring the Gators’ total all-time Men’s Watch List appearances up to 59, nearly four times as many as second-place Arizona with 17.

Last Season: Dendy was the only collegian to surpass 27 feet in the long jump during both the 2012-13 indoor and outdoor collegiate seasons, including a 2013 collegiate-best indoor leap of 27-2 (8.28m) to claim the title at the NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships. Though he did not advance to the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships out of the East Preliminary round in the long jump, his wind-aided mark of 27-2½w (8.29m | 2.3m/s) was the second-best all-conditions mark of the outdoor collegiate season.

He also performed at a national level in the triple jump, recording the fifth-best indoor mark of the 2012-13 indoor collegiate season at 53-3¾ (16.25m) and the 13th and a fourth-place NCAA finish. Outdoors he posted a leap of 52-7¼ (16.03m) for the 13th-best wind-legal mark of the collegiate season.

Dendy donned the Red, White and Blue for Team USA at the 2013 IAAF World Championships, though he didn’t advance to the final.

Sophomore
Sprints

Pembroke Pines,Fla.
St Thomas Aquinas

Arman Hall, Florida

The Bowerman Notes: Hall appears on the Watch List for the first time. He and fellow Florida Watch Lister Marquis Dendy bring the Gators’ total all-time Men’s Watch List appearances up to 59, nearly four times as many as second-place Arizona with 17. Hall himself is the eighth different Florida student-athlete to appear on the Watch List, the most of any men’s program all-time. Texas A&M is next with six.

Last Season: Hall may have been a newcomer to collegiate track & field in 2013, but he performed like a veteran when it mattered in helping Florida to a co-team championship at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships along with Texas A&M. Not only did he finish third at 400 meters in 45.02, but he also ran crucial legs on the winning 4×100 relay team and the 4×400 relay team that ultimately clinched the co-team title with a win in the final event. His third-place 400 meter effort made him the third-fastest collegian of the 2013 season, edging out veteran David Verburg by just .01 of a second.

Indoors, he helped the Gators to a runner-up showing in the 4×400 relay at the NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships.

After NCAA Outdoors, he continued to build momentum into the summer. At the USA Track & Field Championships, he ran a 44.84q in the semifinals for the sixth-fastest U.S. Junior time in history and qualified for the 2013 IAAF World Championships after running a 45.01 in the final to finish third. In Moscow, where was the youngest-ever 400 meter runner in Team USA history, he advanced to the semifinals.

Sophomore
Combined Events

Cologne, Germany Hanns Seidel Gymnasium

Johannes Hock, Texas

The Bowerman Notes: Hock was a semifinalist for The Bowerman in 2013, and is making his third Watch List appearance. Along with fellow Longhorn Watch Lister Johannes Hock, Texas has now been represented on the Men’s Watch List 12 times, tied with Florida State for seventh among men’s programs all-time.

Last Season: In just his first year of NCAA competition, Hock made a significant impact not only on the 2013 collegiate decathlon scene, but also the all-time collegiate record book. He posted two of the top nine scores in collegiate history in 2013: a 8293 at the Big 12 Championships that gave him the seventh best score all-time and the ninth-best all-time score with a title-winning 8267 at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships.

He joined 2010 The Bowerman winner Ashton Eaton of Oregon and Mike Ramos of Washington as the only men with multiple top-10 all-time collegiate scores. His NCAA Championships performance came amidst the deepest competition in the meet’s history as six different decathletes surpassed the 8000-point barrier.

Indoors, he finished sixth in the heptathlon at the NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships with a score of 5873.

Junior
Pole Vault

Oxford, Miss.
Oxford HS

Sam Kendricks, Mississippi

The Bowerman Notes: Kendricks finished the 2013 season as a semifinalist for The Bowerman, but this marks his first appearance on the Watch List. He is the third male student-athlete from Ole Miss to have been included on the Watch List, and his is the fifth total appearance for the school.

Last Season: After recording the eighth-best vault in collegiate history at the end of March — a height of 19-¾ (5.81m) at the Texas Relays that was the best mark by a collegian since 1998 — Kendricks flew under the radar for the remainder of the outdoor season before peaking again for a the title at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

In Eugene, Ore., he bested two-time indoor champion Andrew Irwin of Arkansas and defending outdoor champ Jack Whitt of Oral Roberts with a clearance of 18-8¼ (5.70m) for his first NCAA title.

Indoors, Kendricks finished third at the NCAA Championships with a mark of 18-4½ (5.60m).

Senior
Distance

Eldoret, Kenya
Emining HS

Lawi Lalang, Arizona

The Bowerman Notes: Lalang returns as a Finalist for the 2013 The Bowerman as the active leader in Watch List appearances with 17. His appearance total is second all-time behind Florida’s Jeff Demps, and it accounts for all 17 of Arizona’s appearances as a program — also the second most in the award’s history.

Last Season: He became the first man in Division I history to win NCAA Championships in both the mile and the 3000 meters indoors and the 5000 and 10,000 meters outdoors in the same season, smashing indoor championships records in both the mile (3:54.74) and the 3000 (7:45.94) along the way. He became just the third man to win four individual distance titles in one academic year, joining inaugural 2009 The Bowerman winner Galen Rupp of Oregon and UTEP’s Suleiman Nyambui, who accomplished the feat in both 1980 and 1982.

He twice posted performances in both the indoor mile and the 3000 meters that made the list of all-time top-ten indoor collegiate times. Outdoors, not only did he win titles at 5000 and 10,000 meters, but he also posted a 2013 collegiate-best mark at 1500 meters in 3:38.53.

Lalang’s outdoor campaign culminated with a 13:35.19 NCAA title-winning performance at 5000 meters and another title in 29:29.65 at 10,000 meters. He finished his outdoor campaign undefeated in nine events between 1500, 5000 and 10,000 meters. He won Pac-12 titles at both 1500 meters and 10,000 meters, with his winning 1500 time of 3:38.53 standing as the collegiate leader at the end of the season despite not contesting the event at the NCAA Championships.

Though he didn’t compete at the 2013 IAAF World Championships for his native Kenya, his summer season did include the fastest 5000 meters ever run by a collegian in 13:00.95 in Monaco and a 3:33.30 1500 meters in Paris, both in Diamond League competitions.

Junior
Sprints

Arima, Trinidad and Tobago
Queen’s Royal College

Deon Lendore, Texas A&M

The Bowerman Notes: This marks the second career appearance on the Watch List for Lendore. Along with teammate and fellow Watch Lister Wayne Davis II, Texas A&M now accounts for nine total Men’s Watch List appearances, tied with Indiana, Northern Arizona, Texas Tech and BYU for 12th all-time.

Last Season: Lendore was one of the top quarter-milers in the country in 2013 in just his sophomore season, capping his season as the national runner-up at 400 meters at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships in 44.94. He was one of just two collegians to dip into the 44-second range during the collegiate season, and he clocked an additional eight performances in the 45-second range.

Two of those performances came with SEC titles, as he ran a blistering 45.02 to win the outdoor crown and 45.23 to win the indoor crown after running 45.15 in the preliminaries — the fastest indoor time by a collegian in 2013. All told, he won five of his seven finals at 400 meters throughout the 2012-13 academic year. He finished sixth in the final at the NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships.

He was also a member of the 4×400 relay team that finished runner-up at the NCAA Indoor Championships and notched 12 victories in 15 races between the indoor and outdoor seasons.

Internationally, he represented Trinidad and Tobago at the 2013 IAAF World Championships in Moscow at 400 meters, where he advanced to the semifinals.

Junior
Distance

Nairobi, Kenya
Koiwa HS

Anthony Rotich, UTEP

The Bowerman Notes: Rotich is a member of the Watch List for the first time in his career, and is the first man from UTEP and the fourth from Conference-USA to appear on the Watch List.

Last Season: Not only did Rotich claim his first NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field national title in the 3000 meter steeplechase in 2013, but his winning time of 8:21.19 was fast enough to make him the seventh-fastest performer in collegiate history. Only two collegian men (Donn Cabral in 2012 and Barnabas Kirui of Mississippi in 2007) have run faster since the turn of the new millennium.

He won seven of his ten outdoor finals between the steeplechase, 5000 meters and 1500 meters, and claimed Conference-USA titles in each of those three events. He was the top collegian in all three steeplechase finals he ran in 2013.

Indoors, he qualified for the NCAA Division I Championships at both 3000 and 5000 meters, finishing 12th and sixth, respectively. His 13:38.58 performance at 5000 meters at the UW Husky Classic was the fifth fastest collegiate time of the 2013 indoor season.

Senior
Throws

Brisbane, Queensland (Australia)
Gregory Terrace HS

Julian Wruck, UCLA

The Bowerman Notes: Wruck returns as a Finalist for the 2013 The Bowerman, with this being his fifth appearance on the Watch List. He accounts for all five of UCLA’s appearances as a program on the Men’s Watch List.

Along with fellow returning The Bowerman Finalist Lawi Lalang of Arizona, he will attempt to become just the second male student-athlete to repeat as a Finalist. The other, Ashton Eaton of Oregon, won The Bowerman in his second appearance in 2010.

Last Season: Wruck had a breakthrough year in a big way in 2013, re-writing the record books en route to his second career NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field national title in the discus, for which he ultimately defeated defending champion Chad Wright of Nebraska with a throw of 213-0 (64.94m) after trailing midway through the final three throws.

Though his winning throw was the top mark in the Outdoor Championships since 2000, it paled in comparison to his performance at the exhibition Claremont Throws meet the week prior, where he uncorked the best throw ever by a collegian with a 223-7 (68.16m) mark that would have bested the collegiate record of 221-11 (67.66m) by nearly two feet. He also recorded three other all farther than 220 feet and another at 217-9 (66.38m). The marks did not count in the all-time collegiate rankings due to meet structure and the number of throws taken.

He notched four other throws that did make it into the collegiate record books, including the fifth-farthest throw in collegiate history of 217-7 (66.32m) while representing UCLA at the Australian Championships, and the eighth- and ninth-best all-time marks of 216-8 (66.05m) and 217-7 (66.01m) earlier in the season.

Internationally, he represented Australia at the 2013 IAAF World Championships in Moscow, where he finished 11th in the final with a mark of 204-8 (62.40m).

ABOUT THE BOWERMAN

The Bowerman, which debuted in 2009, is presented annually by the USTFCCCA to the most outstanding male and female collegiate track & field athletes in the nation.

Indiana’s Derek Drouin and Clemson’s Brianna Rollins are the reigning winners of The Bowerman, which is named for legendary Oregon track & field and cross country coach Bill Bowerman. In addition to their collegiate achievements, Rollins is the reigning World Champion in the 100 meter hurdles — an event for which she also holds the American Record — while Drouin has won bronze medals at both the 2012 Olympics and 2013 IAAF World Championships.

In total, the winners from the award’s first four years have won three Olympic Medals, three World Championships and eight World Championships medals. When considering finalists for the award, 13 individuals have earned a combined six Olympic medals, four World Championships and 17 World Championships medals.

Bowerman served the sport of track and field in numerous ways. His leadership in the USTFCCCA’s predecessor organization, the National Collegiate Track Coaches Association, and his contributions to NCAA track and field and the running community as a whole are among his many lasting legacies.

For more information on The Bowerman, the award, the trophy and Bill Bowerman himself, visit TheBowerman.org.

ABOUT THE USTFCCCA

The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) is a non-profit professional organization representing cross country and track & field coaches of all levels. The organization represents over 8,000 coaching members encompassing 94% of all NCAA track & field programs (DI, DII, and DIII) and includes members representing the NAIA as well as a number of state high school coaches associations. The USTFCCCA serves as an advocate for cross country and track & field coaches, providing a leadership structure to assist the needs of a diverse membership, serving as a lobbyist for coaches’ interests, and working as a liaison between the various stakeholders in the sports of cross country and track & field.